Les Moutons de Panurge
for open instrumentation
By Fredric Rzewski
American
American
Les Moutons de Panurge is inspiredby Rabelais’ fable of Panurge’s sheep, who follow each other blindly off the side of a ship. Here the performers are given a tune and instructions on how that tune is to be repeated. Not unlike well-intentioned sheep, the players begin together in perfect unison. However, as each player begins unintentionally “falling off” the tuneone at a time, what results is an increasingly chaotic, semi-improvised counterpoint.
The work is dedicated to Frans Brüggen, and was completed in March 1969.
“All I say is that non-experts often know more than experts and should therefore be consulted and that prophets of truth (including those who use arguments) more often than not are carried along by a visions that clashes with the very events that vision is supposed to be exploring.
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--Paul K. Feyerabend, Against Method